Dog Breeds
Megan McMahon
2/2/2022
Questions
- Which dog breeds are the most popular? Has this changed over the past several years?
- What attributes are most important for predicting dog breed rankings?
- How do the top dog breeds score on those key attributes?
Data obtained from https://github.com/rfordatascience/tidytuesday/tree/master/data/2022/2022-02-01
Thomas Mock (2022). Tidy Tuesday: A weekly data project aimed at the R ecosystem. https://github.com/rfordatascience/tidytuesday.
Quick snapshot
| Breed | X2013.Rank | X2014.Rank | X2015.Rank | X2016.Rank | X2017.Rank | X2018.Rank | X2019.Rank | X2020.Rank | links | Image | LocalImage | Affectionate.With.Family | Good.With.Young.Children | Good.With.Other.Dogs | Shedding.Level | Coat.Grooming.Frequency | Drooling.Level | Coat.Type | Coat.Length | Openness.To.Strangers | Playfulness.Level | Watchdog.Protective.Nature | Adaptability.Level | Trainability.Level | Energy.Level | Barking.Level | Mental.Stimulation.Needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Affenpinschers | 143 | 144 | 136 | 149 | 147 | 148 | 152 | 163 | https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/affenpinscher/ | https://www.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Affenpinscher-illustration.jpg | img/Affenpinschers_new.png | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | Wiry | Short | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Akitas | 45 | 46 | 46 | 46 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 48 | https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/akita/ | https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn-origin-etr.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/06155318/Akita-illustration.jpg | img/Akitas_new.png | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | Double | Medium | 2 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 3 |
| Azawakhs | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 193 | https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/azawakh/ | https://www.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Azawakh_illustration.bw_.1.jpg | img/Azawakhs_new.png | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Smooth | Short | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 |
| Barbets | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 145 | https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/barbet/ | https://www.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Barbet-illustration.jpg | img/Barbets_new.png | 4 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 | Curly | Medium | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Basenjis | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 84 | 87 | 88 | 86 | https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/basenji/ | https://www.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Basenji-Illo-2.jpg | img/Basenjis_new.png | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | Smooth | Short | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 4 |
| Beagles | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 7 | https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/beagle/ | https://www.akc.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Beagle-Illo-2.jpg | img/Beagles_new.png | 3 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | Smooth | Short | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 |
Any missing values?
Which dog breeds were the favorite in 2020?
Which dog breeds are the favorites over the years?
Let’s look at the top 10 dog breeds since 2013.
Ok, maybe we should look at another graph without the cute pictures?
Wow, what a comeback for the Pembroke Welsh Corgis!
What about the underdogs?
## [1] "Affenpinschers" "Akitas" "Azawakhs" "Barbets"
## [5] "Basenjis" "Beagles" "Beaucerons" "Bloodhounds"
## [9] "Boerboels" "Borzois" "Boxers" "Briards"
## [13] "Brittanys" "Bulldogs" "Bullmastiffs" "Chihuahuas"
## [17] "Chinooks" "Collies" "Dachshunds" "Dalmatians"
## [21] "Greyhounds" "Harriers" "Havanese" "Keeshonden"
## [25] "Komondorok" "Kuvaszok" "Leonbergers" "Lowchen"
## [29] "Maltese" "Mastiffs" "Newfoundlands" "Otterhounds"
## [33] "Papillons" "Pekingese" "Pointers" "Pomeranians"
## [37] "Poodles" "Pugs" "Pulik" "Pumik"
## [41] "Rottweilers" "Salukis" "Samoyeds" "Schipperkes"
## [45] "Sloughis" "Vizslas" "Weimaraners" "Whippets"
## [49] "Xoloitzcuintli"What are the most important traits for predicting the overall ranking in 2020?
Work in progress - still figuring out the merge :)
Using random forest, we can see how important the different traits are for the 2020 ranking.
rf1 <- randomForest(X2020.Rank ~ . , data = select(df, -colnames(df)[grepl("X201[0-9].Rank", colnames(df))], -LocalImage, -Image, -links, -Breed), importance=TRUE) # fit the random forest with default parameterLet’s take a look at the importance, evaluated using the percent increase in MSE (higher is more important).
What do these scores mean?
We can check out the trait description table to see how each of these measures was coded. I wish I could take these survey! Look at those value assignments for upper and lower bounds!
| Trait | Trait_1 | Trait_5 | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Affectionate With Family | Independent | Lovey-Dovey | How affectionate a breed is likely to be with family members, or other people he knows well. Some breeds can be aloof with everyone but their owner, while other breeds treat everyone they know like their best friend. |
| Drooling Level | Less Likely to Drool | Always Have a Towel | How drool-prone a breed tends to be. If you’re a neat freak, dogs that can leave ropes of slobber on your arm or big wet spots on your clothes may not be the right choice for you. |
| Coat Type | - | - | Canine coats come in many different types, depending on the breed’s purpose. Each coat type comes with different grooming needs, allergen potential, and shedding level. You may also just prefer the look or feel of certain coat types over others when choosing a family pet. |
| Coat Length | - | - | How long the breed’s coat is expected to be. Some long-haired breeds can be trimmed short, but this will require additional upkeep to maintain. |
| Openness To Strangers | Reserved | Everyone Is My Best Friend | How welcoming a breed is likely to be towards strangers. Some breeds will be reserved or cautious around all strangers, regardless of the location, while other breeds will be happy to meet a new human whenever one is around! |
| Playfulness Level | Only When You Want To Play | Non-Stop | How enthusiastic about play a breed is likely to be, even past the age of puppyhood. Some breeds will continue wanting to play tug-of-war or fetch well into their adult years, while others will be happy to just relax on the couch with you most of the time. |
| Trainability Level | Self-Willed | Eager to Please | How easy it will be to train your dog, and how willing your dog will be to learn new things. Some breeds just want to make their owner proud, while others prefer to do what they want, when they want to, wherever they want! |
How did the top dog breeds score on these key traits?
Using a boxplot to see the difference in distributions across traits between the top 25% (alphas) of dogs according to the 2020 ranking tend to score compared to the other 75% (betas?)
Disclaimer: All dogs are alpha to me, except for my dog, who is the super alpha.
How do tippy top dogs score on the most important traits?
Bringing this back around to the favorite top 10
My favorite dog?
Jack, my best bud